


The Drift

by Shadow_Sovereign



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anime, F/M, Future Fic, Mechs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25101013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_Sovereign/pseuds/Shadow_Sovereign
Summary: The Breach has been closed for years and Kaiju are becoming a distant memory, but not for Izuku Midoriya, one of eight new cadets to the Jaeger program. It may be peacetime, but there are still remnants of the war, rogue Jaeger attacks, and teenage hormones to get in his way. (Confident Izuku, Izuku X Momo, Pacific Rim Crossover)
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Yaoyorozu Momo
Comments: 19
Kudos: 93





	1. Chapter 1

Size doesn't matter. A phrase commonly used to comfort one who feels small, but to Izuku Midoriya, it was just a flat out lie. In this world, size _does_ matter. It didn't just matter, it was everything and that's what he was here to fix, his size.

"Shatterdome, this is seven thirty-one, are we cleared for landing?" The pilot of the Sikorsky helicopter had a rough voice, it grated against Midoriya's ears as it echoed in his headset.

Confirmation was given and the pilot touched them down so softly Midoriya barely felt it. He was dressed in a plain hoodie and casual jeans. He hadn't been given any instructions on what to wear, so he went with functional clothing.

There were seven other people in that chopper with him and the pilot, but he had barely given them a second thought, until now, " _One of them. I'm going to drift with one of them."_ The eight cadets sat in rows of four, lined up against the sides of the military vessel. Only two people caught Midoriya's green eyes, one was a blond-haired boy, looked the same age as him, eighteen. The most striking thing about him was his face, a mishmash of negative emotions, rage, hate, annoyance, but oddly enough the one that stuck out the most was boredom.

"What are you looking at?!" The boy had noticed Midoriya's stare and immediately began to treat it like some infectious disease. As Midoriya turned to the second cadet the blonde kid just scoffed and looked back down at his lap, tapping his foot rapidly.

There was no other word for her, besides stunning, or maybe elegant. She held up her midnight black hair in an enormous ponytail. Her eyes were similarly dark, a mix of intelligence and anxiety. " _She definitely doesn't look like one to belong here, but I shouldn't stereotype, especially at a place like this."_ Midoriya was not wrong, however, her figure contrasted everyone. Slim, dainty almost, she was taller than Midoriya, that much was certain, however, she was tiny compared to the rest of the chopper. There it was again, the thought of size, how big you could be. It wasn't an innuendo, it was just reality, it was just… a Jaeger.

"Alright pile on out! Gotta get this show on the road!" The pilot was grinning back at the new cadets, he had seen his fair share of newbies, but this was the first set in a long time.

They all unbuckled and stood as the Sikorsky's ramp descended, revealing two people, two legends. Wind tousled Midoriya's green hair and heavy rain was the background soundtrack.

"Cadets!" They all snapped to attention. The man spoke in a rugged voice, but it wasn't grating like the pilot's. He was blonde, just like the other boy, a rough stubble covered his jaw. The uniform he wore, if you could call it that, was essentially what Midoriya was wearing.

The woman next to him, however, was more formal, a commander's uniform, neatly pressed, an umbrella hovered above her head, blocking the rain. "We are your commanders." She gestured to the man, "Raleigh Becket." Her short black hair bobbed as she faced forwards once more, "And myself, Mako Mori."

Raleigh was American and yet he spoke perfect Japanese, which complimented his wife nicely. Midoriya knew everything about these two, to the point where it got obsessive, creepy even, but they were his heroes, his symbols. They were the two who closed the breach so that the Kaiju couldn't return anytime soon.

Their new CO didn't seem to mind the rain, it soaked his body, revealing a muscled form underneath his clothes. "Grab your shit and get inside! You're wasting time!"

Midoriya snatched a single bag from under his seat, he had packed light and followed the two warriors to a massive metal door. As they passed through and out of the rain Midoriya noticed it was an empty room, " _It's an elevator."_ He realized as the hydraulic doors began to close.

"Hold the door! Hold it!" A girl with pink hair and crazed yellow eyes slipped through the crack at the last moment, carrying a cylindrical container. Midoriya couldn't see what was inside, but he could hear a sloshing, almost like water.

"We've updated the housing for cadets, you'll all be sleeping in the same room, so get accustomed when we reach it. You'll have an hour to unpack, and then another hour to eat before we begin assessments." Raleigh turned towards the pink-haired girl, "And for god's sake Mei, stop cutting it so close, that's five times in the last ten days you've nearly gotten crushed by that thing."

"Sorry, I've just got so much to do, no time to wait for- oooo are these new cadets?" Mei began to inspect each one individually, spending ample amounts of time on the blond-haired kid, and Midoriya himself.

Just before she could reach a hand out to physically inspect them, much to their annoyance, a small ding echoed throughout the space. Mako gestured to the hallway that led to a single door, "Those are your quarters. Be prepared to meet us for assessment at oh eight hundred."

Everyone except for Mako, Raleigh, and Mei shuffled out of the elevator, "Out of my way losers!" That blond-haired kid pushed past everyone making for the door immediately.

"How dare you! We are all allies here and intend to become the best we can be!" Midoriya looked over at the guy and tried not to laugh, the bluish haired kid was rapidly chopping his arms through the air, just like a robot.

"Did you really get a stick that far up your ass at boot camp?" As the robotic cadet tried to formulate a response, the other laughed, "You're all just stepping stones to my success!"

Both Midoriya and the onyx eyed girl spoke at the same time, "You're forgetting something." They stared at each other, and Izuku being the gentleman, gestured for her to continue. She flashed him a shy smile, "Well, we have to be drift compatible right? So how can we do that with you if you're constantly acting better than everyone? One cannot have dominance in the drift."

" _Damn that smile was cute. And she said exactly what I was gonna say!"_ Midoriya crossed his arms and waited for a response, but the only one they received was a scoff as the door was torn open.

The girl glanced over at Midoriya who twirled one finger around his temple in the universal signal for crazy. She covered her mouth, but he could tell she was amused.

The room was plain, just bunk beds, lockers, and some chests by their beds for any other belongings. The girl stood from her chest, "Ok, I think it's about time we all introduced each other."

"You're fucking kidding me! You want to do an icebreaker?!" The blond-haired kid was somehow viscously and yet neatly folding his clothes.

Seeing no more objections she stood, "I suppose I'll start. My name is Momo Yaoyorozu and I joined, so that like all of you, I could help protect my family and my world."

A yellow-haired kid laughed non-maliciously, "Is that why you joined? Shoot, I feel stupid now." He rubbed the back of his neck as everyone stared at him, "Um, I guess I'll go next, I'm Denki Kaminari, and well… I joined to pilot a giant ass robot, about as simple as it gets."

It was an odd way to introduce each other, but it worked, Tenya Iida was the guy who had been so strict, Katsuki Bakugo was the angry blonde. The others were Kyoka Jiro, who had dark purple hair and always seemed to have at least one earbud in, Ejiro Kirishima, a spiky red-haired, testosterone-filled bodybuilder. And finally, the quiet one, he had two mismatched eyes and a burn scar over his left eye, his hair was equally split, one side white, the other scarlet, Shoto Todoroki.

Finally, it came to him, Midoriya stood, "I'm Izuku Midoriya." That was all he wanted to say, he feared if he started to talk about why he joined, it wouldn't stop.

Kirishima looked puzzled at his abrupt declaration and subsequent cut off, "Uh dude? Are you gonna say why you're here? We all did."

The green cadet pursed his lips, giving the room a careful once over, "It's personal."

Kaminari scoffed, "Dude, you came to the wrong place to keep a secret. One of us is gonna be in your head sooner or later."

Izuku shrugged, "One person knowing is better than seven."

"The real question is why they started recruiting again." Everyone turned to Todoroki, his quiet demeanor giving him the advantage of seeming loud during the few times he spoke. "The Kaiju haven't been spotted for years. And-"

"You don't think the Breach could open again do you?!"

Bakugo gave Kaminari a piercing glare. "Dumbass! Why the hell would you come here if you weren't prepared to fight something?!"

"Well… I just thought… ya know… peacetime and all that."

Yaoyorozu shook her head, "I'm certain that the Breach isn't opening anytime soon, but-"

She was cut off by a blaring siren, one that made Izuku jump a foot in the air and want slam his hands over his ears.

"Rogue Jaeger spotted approaching Tokyo! All Pilots, man your Jaegers and engage the target! This is not a drill!"

"Yeah… peacetime," Bakugo said before slapping the back of Kaminari's head, "Nice going dumbass, you jinxed us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading the first chapter of The Drift! I've had this sitting in my Google Drive for like 2 years now and finally decided to finish off the first chapter. As such, my writing may look different during the second chapter, but I'll do my very best to keep it consistent. I'm currently writing another Fanfic, Class 1-C: Underdog Heroes, that is being posted on DragolianX-Unlimited's profile, so go check it out, it's a lot of fun! If you're interested in discussing the fic or any of my other fics in further detail, or if you just want to hang out, feel free to join my discord server at, https://discord.gg/DeFqz5F. As always with my fics, any feedback is greatly appreciated and I hope you continue to enjoy the fic!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I put the author's note at the end of a chapter, but I figured I'd put this one here for clarification. There was a review asking if this Fic took place during the second film, Uprising. To clarify, this takes place a few years after the first movie and has absolutely nothing to do with the second because in my mind, that movie isn't canon (But if you enjoy Uprising that's cool too!) If you're interested in discussing the fic or any of my other fics in further detail, feel free to join my discord server at, https://discord.gg/DeFqz5F. Anyways, thanks for the really positive support and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

The Shatterdome had become a chaotic mess with just one alarm.

The halls were completely overcrowded with technicians, pilots, and general staff. All of which looked completely discombobulated, like they didn't know where to go.

As Izuku pushed through the crowd, Bakugo screaming behind him, he noticed the same thing, beginning to wonder just how new the rest of the facility was.

"COME ON YOU EXTRAS! MOVE IT! PILOT COMING THROUGH!"

One of the technicians apparently didn't take kindly to Bakugo's self-title and gave him a right hook. The blond was knocked down and a fight quickly broke out between them, with Kirishima attempting to break it up.

Izuku didn't bother turning back. Right now, he had only one concern. And that was seeing Gipsy Danger in action.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to see Yaoyorozu with a concerned gaze in her eyes. Afraid he had somehow offended her by staying out of the fight, he froze and stopped fighting the crowd for a moment.

She thawed him out as she took his hand and shouted over the raucous hallway, "Follow me!"

Dragging him back down the hallway they came from, Yaoyorozu ducked into what appeared to be a maintenance closet. Izuku was surprised to see that it extended far past a simple closet.

"How'd you know this was here?" Izuku and the others had been here less than three hours, there had been no time to explore.

"I studied the schematics of the Shatterdome before coming here."

Izuku practically flinched back in shock. The Shatterdome was less like a base and more like a small city. Yaoyorozu had either spent months studying, or she had some sort of photographic memory.

"That's…"

"Nerdy?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"I was gonna say awesome."

Izuku couldn't see her face from being pulled along behind her, but he could tell from the way she moved her head that she was proud of her insane memory skills being recognized.

As the two exited the maintenance hallway, they came up to a set of metal stairs, both leading down and up farther than they could make out.

"Well… ladies first?"

Yaoyorozu took Izuku's joke a little too seriously and shook her head, "It's wide enough for only one person at a time, I'd just slow you down." She stepped to the side and gestured for him to go first.

Izuku nodded, "Fair enough," And started his way up the stairs, taking two or three at a time.

"LOCCENT Mission Control is on floor 26!" Yaoyorozu shouted up to him as he reached the first door and sighed.

The barracks were technically underground, meaning that their floor number was negative. "Only 27 more floors to go!"

* * *

By a teenager's standard, Izuku was very athletic. His body was severely trained and his stamina was just as good, but by the time he reached floor 27, he could feel his muscles and lungs burning. He could only imagine how Yaoyorozu, who looked far slimmer, was fairing.

She had consistently told him to leave her behind and just keep going, but Izuku had denied. To be honest, by this point, he wasn't sure he could've left her behind even if he wanted to. Izuku could hear his fellow cadet similarly gasping for breath just a couple steps behind him.

Upon reaching the door, he threw it open like he was conquering the world itself, Yaoyorozu practically collapsing behind him.

"LOCCENT… Control… three doors… to the left."

The two took a moment to catch their breath before walking at a brisk pace to the giant doorway and holding up their security passes to the scanner.

"Where the hell are my pilots?!" Was the first thing the two heard upon running into the massive command center.

Izuku had heard stories and seen pictures online of the Shatterdome, but seeing it in person was something else entirely, like walking through the bridge of a Star Destroyer. It was just… magical. Unfortunately, it was under rather trying circumstances.

"Gipsy Alpha was deployed five minutes ago, Sir!"

"Yeah! But I don't want our commanders going up against an unknown Jaeger by themselves!"

Izuku finally spotted the man doing the shouting. He was 5'8", not much taller than himself and his outfit of suspenders, high pulled pants, and a bowtie stood out as mismatched against the rest of the drab outfits.

It was at that moment that the man, Tendo Choi, turned to face him, their eyes locking for a brief moment, "And who the hell are you?! Who let you in here?!"

Izuku blanched. In his excitement to see Gipsy Danger, apparently renamed Gipsy Alpha, in action, he hadn't paused to consider that what he was doing was against protocol.

Thankfully, the prim and proper Yaoyorozu swiftly covered for him. "Cadets Yaoyorozu and Midoriya, Sir! Our CO asked us to report to him at oh-eight-hundred, but… the alarm sounded and I figured LOCCENT was the best place to go!"

Izuku was fairly impressed by Yaoyorozu's transition to military girl. Her delicate nature and frail body made him think that she might be shy or timid under scrutinization, but she appeared to be the opposite.

Tendo grimaced before nodding, "Yeah, that was probably the right choice." He pointed to an open spot on the floor, near some monitors of the Sikorsky Helicopter feeds. "Observe and stay out of the way," He said before running off to his workstation once more. "Gipsy Alpha, this is LOCCENT! Rogue Jaeger, codenamed Polar Omega, is not reading any nuclear signals. This is a fresh model."

"Polar Omega?" Yaoyorozu asked Izuku, "Does he just come up with these on the spot?"

Izuku shook his head, "Polar Omega is the decided codename for rogue and unseen Jaegers. When they spot the Jaeger, they give it a proper name. Kaiju were named on the spot though."

"Thanks LOCCENT," Raleigh replied, "Is there any word on our backup pilots?"

"Not that we need them," Mako interjected.

Tendo sighed, "Unfortunately, the alarm caused a panic. You're not looking at backup for a little while."

"Makes sense. We haven't had a real alert since Scunner and Raiju. Do what you can, we'll make sure to hold this bastard at the Miracle Mile at least."

"Copy that." Tendo seemed to consider something for a moment, "I've got two of your cadets here. They seem to be the only ones to have made it. You want me to stick em' in a Jaeger? See if we can get you some emergency backup."

"They're cadets," Raleigh objected.

"And they both have perfect simulator scores."

"They arrived to LOCCENT together?" Mako asked.

"Yeah, just the two of em.'"

Tendo could hear the Commanders share a chuckle over the radio, "Sounds like they paired up already. Put them in Genesis 9."

"But only deploy them if their sync rate is higher than 95 percent," Mako finished.

"Copy that!" Tendo yelled over to a few of his spare technicians, "You two! Get those newbies suited and booted! And prepare a Jumphawk lift for Genesis 9!"

The two technicians quickly strutted over to Izuku and Yaoyorozu and gave them the rundown.

Izuku gave an excited grin, whereas Yaoyorozu turned pale, "A-Are you being serious?"

"No time for questions! It's an order!" Without another word, the two turned and speed-walked away.

This time, it was Izuku's turn to grab Yaoyorozu's hand and begin pulling her along.

* * *

Yaoyorozu was certain that the Drivesuit was too tight. Her hands were starting to go numb. When she brought this up to the Drivesuit builders, they asked her to move her arm. Upon finding no stiffness or difficulty moving, the team laughed and patted her on the back.

"It's called nerves, dear! You'll get used to it! If you survive the Drift that is!" He bantered.

Izuku thought it was a pretty amusing comment, but had his back not been turned to Yaoyorozu, he would've told the guy to knock it off.

The onyx-haired beauty was letting down her ponytail so it could fall into the suit with shuddering hands. A ponytail wouldn't fit in their helmets and if she didn't stuff her hair into the back of the Drivesuit, it would've gotten pinched.

Her back was rocked with vibrations as the techs connected a centipede-like strip of metal to her back. It's connecting legs spasmed as they looked for the ports.

"You two have done simulator drops before, right?"

"Yep!" Izuku replied cheerfully.

"Y-Yes," Yaoyorozu mumbled out.

"Then I'm not going to explain any of the suit functions to you, got it!" It wasn't a question.

Izuku nodded and slipped on his helmet, the yellowish relay fluid covering his view for just a second before it dispersed throughout the system. Yaoyorozu had to have someone put on her helmet for her, as she was nervous about the relay fluid drowning her. As it turned out, the fluid was in between parts of the faceplate, making it only look like it would submerge you.

Upon the fluid clearing, Yaoyorozu found Izuku just staring at her with wide eyes, "Y-Yes?"

Izuku shook his head, "No… it's nothing."

"Come on you two!" One of the techs grabbed the teens by the arms and began hauling them off to the gangway for Genesis 9.

Stepping out of the sealed hallway and into the wide-open hangar that stretched for miles, Izuku was overcome with noise. Whirring drills, hissing welders, and loud machinal thuds told him everything he needed to know about the space. He was certain that if he didn't have his helmet on, he would smell oil, gasoline, and metal. But it was really the Jaeger that took up his attention.

300 feet tall and a pure angelic white, Genesis 9 was one of the most imposing Jaegers in the bay, even with its more aerodynamic design. Its head came to a triangular point and rested on an exposed neck that showed off its powerful hydraulics. Its shoulder armor was curved down to a point and extended a little ways out from the arm. The arms themselves were nothing to write home about, but the hands were certainly interesting. Instead of rounded fingertips, Genesis 9 had razor-sharp claws, a design choice Izuku hadn't seen in any other Jaeger before. 9's torso jutted out with jagged and mechanical edges. On its back rested what looked like two thick misshapen wings, like the aero fin stabilizers that had been built on Striker Eureka.

Overall, had the mech been built black, Izuku would've said that it looked evil, without a question. As he continued to jot down his knowledge of the Jaeger in his mind, he didn't even notice the techs locking him and Yaoyorozu into their cradles.

Now their feet were affixed to the floor and their backs were held onto by a hanging fixture, ensuring they always stayed upright. There were no locks around their arms to track movement, but as the Jaeger slowly booted to life, holographic gauntlets spun to cover their forearms.

It was at that moment that Yaoyorozu fully began freaking out, "I-I don't know if I can do this. It's one thing to do simulations… but this is just-" She was cut off as Izuku reached out and wrapped his hand around hers.

"You _can_ do this."

Yaoyorozu shook her head, "No… no I'm… I'm too scared." Yaoyorozu felt ashamed to be suddenly baring her soul to someone she had just met, but her emotions overruled her rationality.

"It's just a Drift test, we're not for sure going out."

"But what if we are Drift compatible?"

"Alright, pilots! This is LOCCENT. Genesis 9 is running at full capacity and preparing for neural handshake in 60 seconds! As always, don't chase the RABIT."

Yaoyorozu went up to press down on the communication relay, but Izuku stopped her, "You can do this," He repeated, "But I know you're scared. And that's okay. All you need to do is let me cover for you." Yaoyorozu gave him a confused glance. "We're about to be in each other's heads, remember? If we're Drift Compatible, then we'll share each other's emotions. I'm way too excited and you're scared. We're the perfect pair to balance each other out."

"10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4…"

Izuku squeezed her hand once more, "I've got you."

"1…"


	3. Chapter 3

Izuku had heard stories of the Drift dozens of times before. Some said it was like a lucid dream of your memories, others called it a brief flash of your life before your eyes. No matter what the description was, Izuku now realized that they were all wrong.

He felt like he was drifting through a hyper-real reality. None of the colors were more or less vibrant than real life, the smells were the same, and the noises were the same decibel as they would be outside the Drift. But something about melding minds with someone you had never known before made everything seem like the most incredible sensual experience.

Both Izuku and Yaoyorozu, while mere cadets at the Shatterdome, had undergone extensive training before arriving here. They had done mock Drifts and drops, so they were experienced, in more ways than one, when it came to letting their memories flow. But that wasn't to say they didn't catch anything.

Izuku could specifically feel the pitter-patter of rain on his skin and smell hot black tea. The one thing that surprised him, however, was the lack of Kaiju memories. In a world where Kaiju dominated every news outlet, no matter the subject, they were at the core of at least one big memory.

On the other hand, Yaoyorozu found herself experiencing the opposite. Every little detail about every Kaiju or Jaeger Izuku had ever seen crammed itself into her mind. In a weird way, Yaoyorozu almost felt comforted by these insincere memories. She didn't feel like she was intruding on another's mind, nor did she feel overwhelmed by anything personal coming off of Izuku. As she wondered if he was restricting his memories to her intentionally or not, she suddenly realized tears were pouring down her face. And then… she snapped back to reality.

Gasping in unison, Izuku and Yaoyorozu blinked at each other. Neither could remember which was on the right or left side.

"Oh yeah…" Izuku breathed out, "This is cool."

"Pilot's neural link operating at… 99 percent?!" Tendo exclaimed, "Dammit, I owe Chen money."

"Hold on!" Yaoyorozu shouted as she depressed the radio button, "You bet on our compatibility?!"

"O-Oops… Am I still on?" Tendo cleared his throat, "Pilots, as the lift crew gets into place, I'm going to walk you through 9's capabi-"

"No need," Izuku interrupted, "I can already feel her."

"And that's another 20 bucks on 9 being a female," Tendo sighed.

"They're always female, Tendo!" A voice shouted in the background, "When are you gonna get that through your thick skull?"

"Alright… Well, anyways, first-time pilots have a difficult time using their Drift headspace to communicate, so speaking out loud is a smart move for your first drop."

"Wait… Oh my god… we're deploying?!"

"That was the deal. You reach a sync rate higher than 95 and we put you on the Miracle Mile with the Commanders."

Yaoyorozu was about to shout something else, but a wild sensation, almost like she was trying to hold down a squirming dog, melded with her anxiety. As she looked over at Izuku, the two sensations blended together and disappeared, leaving only the Drift.

"I told you," He said grinning, "We're the perfect duo. So… what'd ya say? Wanna take this baby for a spin with me?"

Yaoyorozu found herself nodding as shudders shook Genesis 9, signifying that the lift crew had connected them.

"Genesis 9, Gipsy Alpha has engaged the Rogue Jaeger, formal name, Bifrost Rupture, a few miles outside of the Miracle Mile. Your assignment is to remain on the Miracle Mile until further orders are given and hope that Alpha is enough on its own."

* * *

Raleigh Becket missed Gipsy Danger. It was slower, older, and a Mark-3 that held a special place in his heart.

Jaegers like Crimson Typhoon or Striker Eureka had some salvage and were repurposed, either into the new Genesis 9, or the slightly older Crimson Fission that integrated both Typhoon's firepower and Cherno Alpha's armor plating. Gipsy Danger, on the other hand, was not only mostly obliterated by its own nuclear reactor meltdown, but anything that would've been left of it was in another dimension entirely. As such, Raleigh and Mako had to commission a Jaeger made entirely from scratch. A Jaeger that Raleigh could never find himself getting used to, like when you get a new bed that you don't like, but there are no refunds, so you just gotta deal with it.

The result was the world's second Mark-5 Jaeger, Gipsy Alpha. Running on a double cored Fusion reactor, it was the fastest active Jaeger in the force. Thanks to its slimmer design, which was still inspired by Gipsy Danger, some preferred to call it Gipsy Eureka. While the name was incorrect, Mako and Raleigh let it slide in honor of Stacker Pentecost and Chuck Hansen.

It was the only Jaeger that had been officially deployed since the Breach's closing. Gipsy would occasionally show its face during turbulent riots, or skirmishes that looked like they would escalate to wars. But up until now, it had never been deployed for a combat mission against a Jaeger.

Rogue Jaegers weren't unheard of by any means, but thanks to the means needed to manufacture one, the ones that were encountered were incredibly small and could be handled by most nation's military.

Bifrost Rupture was another story altogether. Its chassis was sleek, well maintained, and very expertly put together. Black in color, its forearms were the most eye-catching thing about it. Nearly three times as large as Gipsy's arms, it looked more like a Kaiju than a Jaeger. The top three fingers were rounded like normal, but the bottom three fingers on each hand were curved into claws like Genesis 9's. Its legs were bent in the opposite direction, like a bird. Thanks to these defining features, its head looked almost too normal for its body. Simple rounded, and with a singular visor for the pilots.

Raleigh and Mako flipped the release switches on their control console simultaneously and Gipsy quickly fell into the dark, turbulent waters.

As soon as it touched down, Bifrost, which had since remained still, suddenly began running at them, its massive arms dragging behind it through the waves.

"Screw the Miracle Mile," Raleigh said as he and his partner began running. No matter how many times he did it, he was always surprised by the lack of resistance in the pedals of Alpha. If he had been to look down, he would've seen the two pedals his feet were locked into, extend far down the Jaeger's torso, eventually reaching its waist and subsequent legs. However, even though both Gipsy and Bifrost were crazy fast, they appeared to drag through the water, their true speed inhibited by the resistance.

Mere seconds away from contact, Mako and Raleigh shared the thought that Bifrost had waited too long to lift its arms to defend itself. The massive limbs heaved themselves through the liquid, their purpose revealed only as they finally emerged from the depths. A small lake's worth of water was thrown at Alpha's face, completely obscuring its view.

But Alpha didn't slow. If anything, it sped up, activating the elbow rocket built into its arm to add some power to their punch. It never hit. The most Raleigh felt was Gipsy's thumb glide across Bifrost's shoulder as his dark, 25-foot wide fist barreled into its opponent's gut.

Gipsy doubled over in pain, as its pilots did the same, right into a left uppercut.

Crashing back-first into the watery depths, Mako and Raleigh shared a glimpse and both thought to themselves, " _Yeah, we're a little rusty."_

Bifrost leaped in after them, intending to pin the somewhat smaller Jaeger at the bottom of the ocean with its feet.

Gipsy rolled to the side underwater, just barely avoiding the stomp in time. Using the water to obscure itself, it scooted backwards a little ways before rising once more.

"Alright. No more fucking around."

Flicking its right arm to the side as it faced off with Bifrost, the new and improved Chain-Sword snapped out. Its long collection of interconnected chains hung like a whip for a moment before assuming a solid, and incredibly sharp sword. It's left hand unclenched and clenched once, a gauntlet of sorts covering the fist in a type of makeshift brass knuckles that provided an extra defense to the arms and could be used as a shield.

Raleigh would've gone for the upgraded Plasmacasters, but unfortunately, they were relatively ineffective against metal chassis like a Jaeger's.

This time, when Bifrost charged Gipsy, the mech simply bent its knees, preparing for the next strike. Bifrost was once again dragging its arms behind it, making its next move all too predictable.

As expected, water was flung high into the air, covering Gipsy's visor. But what wasn't expected was that it was tracking Bifrost's core temperature and used that to anticipate its dodge.

Bifrost threw its punch as Gipsy stabbed for the Jaeger's equivalent collarbone. Both made contact, however, Gipsy's was the only one doing damage. Piercing straight through the metal near the right of its neck, Gipsy felt only slight pain as it used its gauntlet to block the punch, which slightly dented the metal and jammed it into place.

Before the misty water could even fully clear, Gipsy was already in movement, dashing to its left, allowing the middle section of its Chain-Sword to go limp, while keeping the part stuck inside Bifrost completely rigid.

Making full use of its mobility advantage, Gipsy got behind the Jaeger before it even knew it. Spinning its hand around Bifrost's neck, the Chain-Sword acted like a garrote, wrapping itself around the exposed neck twice over.

Pulling it tight, Gipsy got Bifrost off balance and grasping at the whip-like weapon.

"PILOTS!" Raleigh shouted, "EXIT YOUR CONN-POD OR WE WILL USE LETHAL FORCE!"

Bifrost answered by reaching further back at its opponent, but finding that its larger arms restricted it too much to make contact.

As Raleigh prepared to pull one more time and completely sever the head, Bifrost's arms lowered to about chest height. Expecting the pilots to exit, but not naive enough to let go, Raleigh maintained his current grip.

However, instead of something predictable happening, Bifrost's arms severed right down the middle, splitting into two clawed arms and two normal arms.

"That's new!" Raleigh shouted as the clawed hands moved in an impossible manner and reached behind itself to stab Gipsy with its claws. Piercing its torso, Mako and her partner cried out in pain as their fuel lines were severed.

"Losing power to the arms! Let's finish this freak!"

Once again attempting to tighten his grip, the clawed arms wrapped themselves around Gipsy's forearms slowing their movement just enough to let the fuel leak out of them. Bit by bit, they would lose strength until they were left with two useless arms and a Chain-Sword stuck around their enemy's chest.

But of course, no Gipsy would ever go down that easily. All at once, the reactor set in its chest lit up with powerful bursts of heat that began melting into Bifrost's back, but not nearly fast enough. The metal had too high a heating point and in the rain and next to the ocean, the reactor couldn't reach the intense temperature needed to win the day. Raleigh did take extreme pleasure in the fact that he was likely causing the pilots an immense amount of pain from both the stab wound and the reactor purge.

Suddenly, the Jaeger's head did a full 180 and stared down at Gipsy like a messenger of death. It knew it had won.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and for the crazy cool support I've gotten so far! This is probably the best feedback I've gotten on any of my fics! Keep it up and let me know what else you want to see! On another note, I have to apologize for a mistake in the last chapter. I called the lift team Sikorsky's which are used in-universe for recon, but the actual lift helicopters are named V-50 Jumphawks, so I'll make sure to not mess that up in the future. Anyways, hope to see you in the next chapter! Are my cliffhangers annoying you yet XD?


	4. Chapter 4

"I know… you love… ugh… your swords Mako," Raleigh grunted, "But we're gonna have to let this one go!"

In unison, the pilot's right arm yanked back as the Chain-Sword was detached from their forearm and Gipsy lurched away from the dark Jaeger.

With its head still facing the wrong way, Bifrost tilted it, almost like it was confused as to why it had yet to win.

"Closing fuel ways 1 through 7. That'll cut off the leak." Mako's arm detached from the holographic gauntlet and she slammed her fingers down on the center console, stemming the fuel leak and returning power to their arms.

Bifrost spun around, its head and now four arms, facing the right way once more.

"Hey Tendo! I don't care if those kids are… well kids, send in that backup. We're a bad matchup with this thing."

"Look over his right shoulder."

As Gipsy Alpha peered in the direction Tendo had instructed, its opponent became curious. When the words, "Batter up!" Roared through a tertiary Jaeger's speakers, it finally turned, just in time to see a white sphere slam into its face and rock it towards Gipsy.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Gipsy tore the bent gauntlet off its own hand, allowing the left hand Chain-Sword to extend in Whip form.

Snapping its hand up, Gipsy sent the Whip heading for Bifrost's right arms. Thanks to the extra forward momentum, Bifrost leaned into the strike and its clawed arm was cleaved straight off. It's other right arm survived, but was hanging on by threads. The screeching metal was music to Gipsy and 9's ears as they simultaneously charged Bifrost.

Gipsy yanked back on the whip and it snapped back to Sword form on its wrist. Genesis 9 on the other hand, was now wielding what looked like a massive broadsword.

As the Commanding Officers went to spear Bifrost through the chest, it's undamaged left arms reached out to stop it. Unfortunately for it, Genesis 9 was already bringing down the gleaming white sword on top of its shoulders.

Like a knife through butter, Bifrost lost another two arms, leaving it defenseless for Gipsy to stab it straight through the heart, so to speak. The Jaeger spasmed for a few brief moments as its power source was churned to pieces and as it slowly shut down.

Not wanting to take any chances, Gipsy decapitated the Jaeger and took its Conn-Pod. The pilots inside were now the Pan-Pacific Corp's prisoners.

Finally, turning to 9, Raleigh hooked up a comm channel with the two cadets, who snapped to attention, even from within a Jaeger. "Well, looks like you two already got acquainted with 9's Nanobot system." Looking down at 9's arm, Raleigh could see the remains of the broadsword continuing to disintegrate and race back up the Jaeger's arm. "I think we can call today pretty momentous. After all, it was the first time a Jaeger played baseball. At ease."

From inside Genesis's Conn-Pod, both Izuku and Yaoyorozu were grinning wildly, one happy to get praise and the other happy to be done with the fighting.

"Thank you, Sir!" They said in unison.

Mako chuckled as her and Raleigh walked away, the enemy's head in tow, "I don't think I'd ever come up with the idea to use 9's Metalblood as a projectile weapon, certainly not as a baseball and bat."

Raleigh grinned, "That is why we brought in the new blood after all. Now, let's get back to the Shatterdome and crack this thing open."

* * *

Izuku was hesitant to sever his Drift connection as he and Yaoyorozu were lowered back into Genesis's bay. It was the first time he had felt such a vivid and powerful connection with someone and breaking it up was like crawling out of a nice warm bed and into the freezing cold air. Yaoyorozu felt the same way, though for the wrong reason.

She wasn't sure if Izuku could feel it, as both of them had generally restricted their memories as much as possible, thus weakening their link slightly, but Yaoyorozu had been sorting through their memories in an attempt to discover the crying sensation she had experienced at the beginning of the Drift. It was like trying to grasp at the water, visible, but impossible.

Thankfully, Tendo cut the connection off entirely and both teens were shot back into reality.

Now with their minds separate again, Izuku could see that he had been on the right side this whole time. A fact he was secretly very happy about since it was said that right-hemisphere pilots were the dominant ones.

Yaoyorozu yanked off her helmet and gasped in deep breaths before disengaging from the pilot platform. She heavily fell onto her butt, completely exhausted by such a short outing in the Jaeger, whereas Izuku almost seemed invigorated by it.

"I… didn't know you could… hold back certain memories in the Drift," Yaoyorozu said, attempting to prompt her new partner into sharing.

"You can't," Izuku lied through his teeth, "At least… not at first. It takes a lot of practice before you do something like that."

"But-"

Yaoyorozu was cut off as a fist pounding against the Conn-Pod's door, "Hey newbies! The Commanders are about to get that head open! I'd hurry up! I want to see the dumbass's faces when they realize they lost because of some kids!"

Izuku and Yaoyorozu shared a small smile before rushing out of Genesis 9.

* * *

Raleigh waved over Izuku and Yaoyorozu as he spotted them entering the hangar floors.

"Well, these are some stubborn bastards. They refuse to exit, so we've got techs attempting to pry it open." He nodded at the helmets in their arms, "How was the first Drift?"

"Y-You're not going to scold us for moving in without permission from you or Tendo?" Yaoyorozu asked, somewhat shocked by their leniency.

Raleigh smiled wide, showing off his gleaming white teeth, "I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I attempted to lecture someone on following orders. It's her you gotta watch out for," He said, pointing at Mako. "Besides, I had just given Tendo the order, so technically, you were only being proactive," He joked.

Mako finished his train of thought, "But you are still cadets and a Jaeger is no laughing matter, much less a fight in one. Remember that the next time you decide to disobey orders."

The two snapped to attention, "Yes ma'am!"

"Now, you might wanna go talk to your fellow cadets, they've been a little jealous ever since hearing about your outing."

As the two walked away, Mako elbowed Raleigh in the side, "You're too easy on them."

"That's why I've got you."

* * *

"YOU DAMN EXTRAS! WHO SAID YOU COULD GO AND GET A LEG UP ON US!" Bakugo screamed at the duo.

Kaminari sighed tiredly, "Can you please get him to shut up? He's been like this for hours and it's really starting to grate on my nerves."

"You and me both," Was what Izuku and Yaoyorozu wanted to say, but Iida spoke up first.

"It is unbecoming of a Ranger Cadet to act in such a childish manner!"

"SHOVE IT FOUR-EYES!"

"Come on dude," Kirishima said calmly, "I'd much rather hear about what the Drift was like than your incessant screaming."

Bakugo hmphed and crossed his arms in an annoyed manner.

"What was your sync rate?"

"What was it like seeing each other's memories?"

"Did you see Yaoyorozu nake- OW!" Kaminari rubbed his arm following Jiro's rough punch.

All these questions and more assaulted the two as they attempted to fend off the stream of inputs. Thankfully, they were saved by the tech with a plasma cutter shouting out, "Got it!"

Everyone rushed over to the area, where several armed guards moved to pull open the hatch. Taking cover to the right side of the guard's semi-circle, Izuku attempted to get a better view of the Conn-Pod raid.

The soldier counted down silently on his fingers before shoving the entrance open and allowing his comrades to pour inside.

Mere seconds later, the call, "Clear!" Rang out and Raleigh went to step inside, his face contorting into a mask of confusion as he did so. But moving deeper into the head he did, Izuku hanging close behind, catching a glance of four pilots, hanging limply in their cradles.

"What… What's wrong with them?" Jiro asked.

Raleigh took off one of his Drivesuit gloves and held two fingers to the nearest pilot's neck, sighing as he did so, "I think they're all dead."


	5. Chapter 5

Almost immediately after the revelation of the dead pilots, Raleigh sent the cadets away. "You kids have done enough for today. All of you get something in the mess. We're postponing your training to tomorrow."

"You can't seriously think we'll accept that order!" Bakugo shouted as the rest of the cadets saluted and walked away, Izuku and Yaoyorozu to get unsuited first.

Raleigh gave a wry grin, "Looks like you're the only one who won't accept it."

"As soon as we know anything concrete, we will let you know," Mako finished.

Bakugo grumbled to himself, dissatisfied by the lack of information.

* * *

"Where do we sit?" Izuku asked Yaoyorozu as the two walked into the seating area with their plates.

"Do you think we're considered part of the Genesis 9 crew? We could sit there." Yaoyorozu proposed.

"Not just yet," A voice growled out behind them.

Turning around, Izuku was greeted by a behemoth of a man and a second man half his size with a pair of glasses hanging around his neck. Both men were Hispanic in nationality and their faces shared a scar. The larger man's scar appeared to be fake, a tattoo etched all the way down his cheekbone, whereas the smaller one had a legitimate and nasty scar in the same place.

The man seemed threatening, but his friendly smile and relaxed stance helped ease Izuku's mind. "9 is ours for now. You two were just quicker to get to her Pod," The man joked.

Izuku's eyes widened suddenly in realization, "Benjamin Diaz and Martin Rojas! Childhood friends and pilots of Diablo intercept before its destruction in 2022!"

Benjamin, the larger one, smiled even wider, "Always nice to meet a fan! We were called back into action after the Breach got closed and got assigned to Genesis."

"These new-fangled Mark-5's have got some interesting weapons, but they just can't hold a candle to our old rustbucket, so as soon as someone gets assigned to her, me and the old man are going back into retirement."

Benjamin slapped Martin on the shoulder, a strike that would fell much larger men, "I'm only two years older than you! You don't get to call me an old man yet!"

Martin nodded good-naturedly, "Yes yes… I know." Then to the cadets, he directed their attention to a smaller table near the back, "That one is for the newbies, I'm sure those are your bunkmates crowded around it."

"Ah, now I see them." Yaoyorozu bowed as low as possible with her food tray in thanks.

"Yeah, thanks! Oh… and if it's not too much trouble." Izuku pulled a small notebook out from under his arm and flipped through it until he found an insanely detailed sketch of Diablo Intercept, "I thought I might run into a few pilots here, so I made sure to bring my notes."

Realizing what he was asking, Martin took the book happily and pulled out a pen. With a brilliantly practiced flourish, he signed a beautiful signature and handed it back to Izuku.

"My right hand is kinda shot after the battle with Vermin, so he signs for both of us," Benjamin apologized, "But we've spent so much time in the Drift that he signs the same way I would."

"It's perfect!" Izuku exclaimed, "I'll make sure to come back for another signature when I've got Genesis sketched out."

"Something tells me it'll be you and her signing it soon," Martin winked before walking away, Benjamin in tow.

Yaoyorozu peered over Izuku's shoulder, looking into his notebook, amazed by the amount of information crammed into each page. Noticing her attention, Izuku gave her a slightly embarrassed grin and attempted to break the silence by joking, "I've got one for Kaiju too, but I doubt I'll be getting their signatures anytime soon."

Yaoyorozu giggled in a way that made Izuku's heart speed up slightly, though he kept that to himself as they walked to join the rest of the cadets, catching just the end of a sentence.

"...And your salute looks weird," Jiro said to Kaminari.

"Hey that's mean!" Kaminari shouted, which got mostly drowned out by the already loud mess hall.

"Are you sure you were cut out to be a soldier?"

"32 drops, 29 kills!" He bragged back about his simulator numbers as Izuku and Yaoyorozu sat across from each other.

Bakugo barked out a laugh, "Those are pussy numbers!"

"Oh yeah?! ...Then… what're yours?" Kaminari asked somewhat hesitantly.

"52 drops 52 kills, one more than _the_ Mako Mori."

"You guys only did 50 drops?" Todoroki asked sincerely.

"Me and him did around 60," Yaoyorozu said, gesturing to Izuku, "But our scores were a few drops off perfect."

"Why?" Kaminari asked, "How many did you do?"

Todoroki nodded, "175 drops, 174 kills."

The table stared at him in shock.

"Did you spend your whole life in a simulator?!"

Iida shook his head, "I was the same way. I thought it was normal to have at least 100 drops in the simulator before becoming a pilot."

Kirishima broke the silence, "That is hardcore! You two are definitely manly!"

"Um… thanks," Todoroki said with his usual dead tone.

"So," Jiro basically whispered, "What do you two think was the purpose of that Jaeger?"

Izuku and Yaoyorozu shrugged in unison, "A quadruple Drift connection is literally unheard of, and the Jaeger was too well built to be a scrapyard copy, so I think some government has something against the Commanders."

"On the other hand," Yaoyorozu began, "I can't imagine they'd risk their only quad Jaeger on something like that."

Izuku nodded in agreement, "Right now, it's all just a guess."

Changing the subject to something more cheerful, Kaminari asked, "What Jaeger do you guys hope to get assigned to?"

Izuku and Yaoyorozu said in unison, "Genesis 9."

"No surprise there."

Izuku grinned, "We even got her current Pilot's blessings."

"Shit! Seriously?!" Kaminari groaned into his hands, "There's no way you two don't get a spot on the new Ranger program."

Ignoring the blond's complaints, Kirishima spoke up, "I definitely need to get Crimson Fission! I hear it's the biggest and strongest of the current active Jaegers!"

"It's also got the most firepower," Bakugo grinned evilly.

"How about you guys?" Jiro asked Iida and Todoroki.

Todoroki shrugged, "As long as I get assigned, I don't care."

"It's as Todoroki says!" Iida exclaimed, "Any Jaeger is a privilege to pilot!"

"What about you, Earphones?" Bakugo asked Jiro, who had gotten the nickname from her constant use of earbuds.

"I did think you'd care much about our answers Bakugo."

"I don't! I just need to know if anyone else is going for my pick so I can take them down!"

"So you do care?"

"Shut up, Shitty Hair!"

Jiro sighed, "To be honest, I have no idea. I don't know enough about them to want one in particular. I'd probably choose Genesis 9 based on design alone, but since it's already taken…" She trailed off.

Kaminari was too busy worrying to answer his own question and as such, the table lapsed back into small talk, unaware of the current situation that was going down in LOCCENT mission control.

* * *

"What do you mean the bodies are gone?" Raleigh practically yelled at Newton Geiszler and his partner Hermann Gottlieb.

"We mean they… disintegrated."

"Oh please, it was more of an accelerated decomposition," Hermann corrected.

"Whatever dude." Then back to the Commanders, Newt continued his train of thought, "We thought at first it could be some sort of advanced reaction to whatever pill they took to kill themselves."

"Since there was no physical trauma, it had to have been a chemical death," Hermann elaborated.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"You'd be sensing right Commander. I- We… believe that this decomposition is a result not of whatever they took to kill themselves, but of their genetics."

"Their… I'm not following," Raleigh shook his head, "Get to the point."

"We believe… that they are not some rare occurrence of a quadruple compatible Drift, but a manufactured occurrence, so that they could pilot Bifrost."

"Manufactured… you mean?"

"Yeah!" Newt said excitedly, "They're clones!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I didn't expect to have this chapter out a mere day after the last, but I got bored so I decided to write this lol! I hope everyone had a Happy and safe fourth of July and I hope you continue to enjoy the story! Chapter 6 may take a bit longer to get out since I also have an obligation to my Discord server to get out chapter 48 of Class 1-C: Underdog Heroes, but don't worry, I'm very interested in this Fic, so it's likely that I will continue to update relatively frequently. When I'm interested, I am very motivated, so as long as you guys enjoy it, I will write it! Remember, I'm always open to hear how I can get better and I'm always open to questions, so feel free to leave anything in the reviews! See you next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

Yaoyorozu could only see darkness and hear the crackling of nearby fires. Her body floated through an empty void, unable to move or speak.

" _What is this…? Am I Drifting? I've never heard of one like this before."_

Without any answer, Yaoyorozu tried desperately to move, finding her body completely paralyzed. Just as she was about to contemplate sleep paralysis as a cause, she was blinded by the light of the sun suddenly shining in her face.

For miles around, the only thing she could see was rubble. Emergency workers were scattered around, doing their best to save as many as possible.

Yaoyorozu knew where she was now. Downtown Tokyo, 2016, 12 years ago. This was where Kiryu made landfall after passing both Tacit Ronin and Hyper Legion at the Miracle Mile.

It managed to rampage for a full forty minutes before the Jaegers were able to take down the faster Kaiju. It was considered one of the worst Kaiju attacks in history, right behind Trespasser's assault.

Yaoyorozu remembered being 7 at the time, watching the attack through her TV. She had been almost fascinated by the Kaiju when it had been first spotted. It was overly lizard-like and had membranes on its hands as well as a wide tail, which allowed it to move through water faster than any other Kaiju before. Upon reaching the city, it had severed its own tail to ditch some weight and suddenly, Yaoyorozu found herself terrified.

It looked like it ran faster than should've been possible for something that large. And as officials declared that everyone for hundreds of miles around should seek shelter, in case the Kaiju was too fast to kill by the Jaegers, Yaoyorozu remembered her mother and father grabbing her violently and rushing off to their private bunker.

Back then, she had no idea what this implied, but looking back on it, she now knew that nuclear armaments had been considered.

Nukes were partially disregarded after the Jaeger Program was born. When there was a choice between giant robots that could keep damage to a minimum and wide-range radioactive weapons, giant robots were chosen every time. But, as with everything, there were exceptions and nukes were not out of the question.

Thankfully, using a heavy amount of flanking tactics, Hyper Legion was able to kill the Kaiju with the help of Tacit Ronin.

" _Why am I here? Why am I seeing this?"_ Yaoyorozu had seen her fair share of the aftermath on the news, but she had never actually seen the destruction in person, nor was it something that stuck in her mind. It was just another attack to her, so why…?

The sound of sobbing directed her attention down to a small broken house, revealing that Yaoyorozu could once again move.

This confused Yaoyorozu once again. The crying of civilians was everywhere, there was no avoiding it, why these sobs?

A mother and her son, covered in a thick layer of gray dust, hugged each other, lamenting the loss of their home.

Moving closer, Yaoyorozu went to place her hand on the boy's shoulder in an instinctual attempt to comfort him. The second her fingers touched his torn shirt, he spun around, his face a completely blank slate of skin.

Yaoyorozu shrieked and flinched back, which was apparently enough to shake her awake.

Gasping in lungfuls of air as she glanced around for that ever-present dust floating through the air, she calmed down, recognizing the bunk beds and nearby drawers. She was still in the cadet quarters.

Looking over to the digital clock through blurry vision, she realized it was minutes from five in the morning.

Sighing, Yaoyorozu turned on her side in an attempt to get comfortable again, but just as sleep was about to overtake her once more, a pounding on the nearby metal door shook her to full alertness.

"COME ON NEWBIES! TRAINING IN THE KWOON COMBAT ROOM! BE THERE IN TWENTY MINUTES OR GET OUT OF THE SHATTERDOME!"

It only took five minutes for the room to be a mess of frantic teens and thrown about clothing. Izuku and Bakugo were the first up and ready, with Todoroki and Iida following close behind. The other four took longer, but within ten minutes, everyone was ready and walking towards the Kwoon Combat Room.

On the way there, Yaoyorozu leaned over to Izuku, "Did you… have any weird dreams last night?"

He smiled, "I always have weird dreams. Why? Is something wrong?"

"N-No. I guess it's just a little weird sleeping here for me. I'm not used to so many people in the same room."

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, I was like that for a while too."

Yaoyorozu tilted her head, but before she could ask about what that meant, the hallway opened up to the training room.

All eight of the cadets were shocked upon seeing Hercules Hansen and Akari Yamada standing to either side of their Commanders. The two were hugely famous pilots, of both Striker Eureka and Echo Saber respectively and held a reputation as some of the best melee brawlers in the business.

"Cadets!" Raleigh called out, to which all straightened and saluted. "This is Herc and Akari, your new instructors for the next ten weeks! They are battle-hardened and are going to kick your ass!" Raleigh smirked, "You are going to resent them and if you can't channel that resentment into an effective tool then you are not cut out to be a pilot!"

Herc stepped forwards, his rough stubble and muscled arms giving him a rather imposing figure despite his smaller stature. With an Australian accent that Yaoyorozu couldn't help but find pleasing to the ears he said, "No pilot pair is perfect. You _will_ find something to dislike about your co-pilot after you sort through their memories a couple of times. That doesn't mean you should immediately disregard your compatibility. Like any good relationship, it will be tested."

"Moving on from the mushy stuff," Akari joked, "We will be training you here 14 hours a day. We are going to push you to your breaking point, no matter where it is. You will learn every type of martial arts we can teach you and you will study every single weapon we can get our hands on. Then, when we are satisfied with your skills, you can try your hand at pairing with one of your fellow cadets."

"So, let's get to it!" Herc clapped his hands together as he called everyone out to the matted floors.

"Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, a word," Mako beckoned over the two, who walked over to the somewhat secluded hallway.

"Tendo informed us of your sync rate. A full 99 percent." Raleigh seemed all too serious for something that should've been great news. "That's a rare number that not even I could reach with my brother."

"It's wonderful that you two found a co-pilot so quickly, but your sorts of numbers come with a consequence."

"Especially for someone of your ages.

Yaoyorozu glanced between the two, "I don't understand, Sir. Are we in some kind of danger?"

"Your lives are not at risk," Mako assured, "But since you two have such a powerful Drift connection, you are going to experience side effects much much faster than any other pilots."

"Ghost-Drifting, where two pilots continue to experience Drift-like behavior even outside of a Jaeger, is something that takes dozens of Drifts before typically occurring. You two could already be experiencing it." Raleigh cleared his throat, "Usually, Ghost-Drifting, much like a normal Drift, allows both Pilots to keep their core personalities, the things that make you… you."

"But, since Neural Handshakes only strengthen over time, there is a serious risk that your mental facilities could bleed into one another's. Either your personalities merge into one, or the more dominant one takes over both of your minds and you become different from the person you once were. You might end up no longer being you."


	7. Chapter 7

"You're like twenty pounds heavier than me!" Kaminari cried out as Akari jabbed her fist at his stomach. He pivoted at the last second and kicked out at her shin, showing off that he was indeed, not just an annoying and whiny teenager.

Of course, Akari easily sidestepped the kick and swept out his other leg, causing him to drop to the ground heavily, "Then I guess you should be trying harder. Maybe instead of running that mouth of yours, you can focus on the fight." The instructor and retired Jaeger Pilot gave him a hand up and addressed everyone, "On average, the Kaiju were bigger or stronger than us. Numbers, weapons, and our minds were the only things that allowed us to win."

"Were the Kaiju not intelligent?" Izuku asked as he put his sparring with Kirishima on hold, "I thought Knifehead knew where to strike in order to hit the pilots?"

Herc nodded as he pinned Bakugo to the ground. Despite the current discussion, neither lost focus on the fight, "GET OFF ME YOU OLD MAN!"

"As Newton Geiszler will tell you, their knowledge was more like a robot's. The Precursors, their creators, instilled them with basic knowledge of certain things and their tasks. But no, they were not inherently intelligent." Herc finally let up on Bakugo and stood, offering the kid a hand, which was promptly smacked away.

"Let's go again, old man."

Herc scoffed and shook his head, a slight twinkle in his eyes.

"What?!"

"Nothing… you just remind me of someone." Clearing his throat, Herc pointed to Yaoyorozu, "Your turn. Enough of that girly sparring. Bakugo, you're Jiro's partner now."

Jiro turned red with indignation, but unlike Bakugo, she was respectful enough to keep her mouth closed for now. Bakugo just grumbled in disappointment and strutted to the side of the room that Jiro was at.

As the room grew loud once again with grunts and the smacks of flesh on flesh, Herc shook his head at the onyx haired beauty, "What's wrong, kid?"

"Huh?"

"You were a badass in 9 just a week ago and now you can barely hold your own."

"T-That was all him," She said, nodding off to her right at Izuku.

The green-haired cadet was delivering blow after blow to Kirishima's side. Yaoyorozu was shocked by the strength of his attacks, but she was even more surprised by Kirishima's insistence on never going down.

Herc shook his head, "That's not how a Drift works. Your fighting styles have to be compatible to pilot the way you did. Which means you can fight just as good as he can, so… what happened to make you so damn timid?"

Yaoyorozu shook her head, "It's nothing. I just… need more training I guess."

Herc sighed and muttered under his breath, "You're damn right you do."

* * *

"Ugh! I don't know how much longer I can handle this!" Kamiari complained as he clutched his bruised… well everything.

Everyone else was just as worn down, especially Kirishima and Bakugo, who threw themselves into a fight so ruthlessly, that they barely cared for their own wellbeing.

Izuku held an ice pack to his black eye, which he received from the redhead, "That's the point. They want to see how badly they can wear us down and then build us back up."

"I just wanna pilot a Jaeger!"

"SHUT UP WHINY BASTARD!" Bakugo cried out in annoyance as he nursed his wounds.

"Can't believe I'm saying this… but I agree with Bakugo," Jiro said, giving Kaminari a glare, "We're here to be pilots. We can't do that if we always have you crying in our ears."

Kaminari pouted for a moment before falling back onto his bed, too exhausted to argue anymore.

Meanwhile, Izuku was busy staring over at Yaoyorozu. It had felt like she was avoiding him, as much as she could when she was living in the same room with him, ever since Raleigh and Mako had told them about the Ghost-Drifting. They had assured them that it was only a possibility and not a certainty, that it shouldn't keep them from piloting together, but while Izuku practically welcomed the fact that he had a perfect partner, Yaoyorozu pushed him away.

A knocking on their bulkhead-like door interrupted Midoriya's train of thought and everyone leapt to their feet as Herc walked into the room.

"At ease, I'm just here for her," He said, pointing to Yaoyorozu.

* * *

"Am I in trouble, Sir?" Yaoyorozu asked as Herc led her farther into the barracks. She was confused because she knew that the Commander quarters were closer to LOCCENT. They were going in the opposite direction.

"...No." Herc walked up to one of the individual bunk rooms and opened the door for Yaoyorozu, gesturing for her to walk inside.

From the pictures on the wall, of both Striker Eureka and a young man resembling Herc, Yaoyorozu took this as a sign that this was Herc's room.

Seeing her interest looking around, Herc smiled, "My son Chuck."

Yaoyorozu immediately felt a pang of regret for not remembering the face of Chuck Hansen, one of the two pilots to sacrifice himself during Operation Pitfall. Going to bow in apology, Herc stopped her by holding up a hand, "Quite alright dear."

Pulling up two chairs, one facing the wrong way, Herc gestured for her to take a seat. She did so and he followed shortly, by resting his arms on the metal backrest.

"When you Drift with someone, it feels like there's nothing to talk about." Herc let the words sink in a moment before giving her a serious gaze, "That doesn't mean you shouldn't talk to someone." He cleared his throat, "The Commander told me about your possible side-effects, which explains why you haven't been all there, and as to why you've been avoiding your co-pilot."

"I haven't been-"

"Co-pilots spar together 90 percent of the time when they've Drifted before. The other 10 percent either wants more of a challenge or… they no longer like their co-pilot."

"I… I just don't want to lose who I am… sorry…"

Herc scoffed, "Then tell him that, not me." He scratched at his stubble, "I apologize for not letting the Commanders finish their explanation to you the other day, I was just trying to get training started."

It was indeed true that Herc had cut the conversation short by calling out for the two after realizing they weren't there. Raleigh and Mako had immediately dismissed them to training, Izuku the same as always, and Yaoyorozu with her eyes almost glazed over.

"The truth is that if you set boundaries with your co-pilot or at least talk to him, you're only making it more likely that the side-effects will take place." Seeing that Yaoyorozu was still unconvinced, he sighed. "My first co-pilot wasn't my son, but my brother. Me and Scott were tight as could be. But during one deployment, I saw something in his mind, something… criminal. Our link was broken and we were nearly killed, but I didn't report it to anyone until after our next engagement with a Kaiju." Herc frowned, "I was so caught up thinking about what he had done when we were Drifting, that I barely realized he was doing all the driving. Soon, I found myself attempting to justify all of it, something that I'd never do. I eventually had to report him, but because we didn't talk about it, it shattered our relationship." Fixing his serious gaze on her once more, "If you don't talk, you're gonna end up regretting it, just like I did."

"So then… if I talk to him about this… what I'm feeling, then we don't have to worry about the side-effects."

Herc shrugged, "You'll still Ghost-Drift likely, but yeah, you can stay you."

Yaoyorozu was about to thank her impromptu mentor and therapist when the alarm started blaring and Herc cursed.

"Ah, not again!"

"Pilots! Report to your Conn-Pods!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading and for all the positive support, it’s really awesome to see! There should be an increase in action soon, so I apologize for the somewhat slow chapters as of late. As always, reviews are appreciated! See you next time!


	8. Chapter 8

"... up! Yaoyorozu! WAKE UP!"

Yaoyorozu's eyes snapped open just in time to see the massive, leathery hand of a Kaiju fill her vision.

* * *

**Twenty-five minutes earlier.**

Izuku charged through the halls, thankful that the alarm hadn't recreated the panic that had put him and Yaoyorozu in Genesis 9 a few days prior. It seemed the recent drills had greatly helped, and since he hadn't heard, "This is not a drill," On the intercom, Izuku assumed this was just another drill.

With the hallway wide open, Izuku was surprised to find that Iida was the fastest among the cadets. He made it to the massive elevator a full thirty seconds before anyone else and was barely winded.

As Izuku and the others piled in, heading for LOCCENT, Izuku just hoped Yaoyorozu was okay with Herc. Even though this seemed like just a drill, he had been in the girl's head and knew that decision making in the heat of the moment wasn't exactly her strong suit.

Thankfully, all of his fears were unfounded, and the elevator dinged open to reveal Yaoyorozu and Herc waiting with another group of mechanics and pilots just three floors up from them.

Izuku let out a small sigh, and Yaoyorozu rushed inside with the rest of the crew, her eyes lingering on her co-pilot for just a moment. It was the most attention she'd given Izuku in this past week of training.

"What's up, kid?!"

Izuku felt a heavy hand slap down onto his shoulder and didn't even have to look up to know who it was. He smiled wide, Benjamin's presence doing loads to set his mind at ease.

"Same old same old, Sir."

"I'm not a Sir!" Benjamin insisted.

"You're old enough to look like one," Martin teased.

"I-" Benjamin sighed, knowing that any response would only egg on his co-pilot even more. "I'm getting kinda tired of these drills. Happen way too frequently for my liking."

"To be fair, you got stuck in the hallway too," Martin pointed out, "Probably thanks to that size of yours."

Benjamin just threw his hands into the air, nearly knocking out two of his technicians with the nonchalant gesture.

The elevator shook lightly, Izuku thinking they had made their stop, but upon looking up, found that they were still moving. He shook his head, it was likely just "turbulence."

Seconds later, the ride dinged and Benjamin smiled, "Ready for a totally pointless suit-up, boys?!" The techs around him groaned, but all had smiles on their faces, betraying their real opinion towards the pilot.

The doors opened and everyone went to spill out as a shout came from LOCCENT, "TAKE COVER!"

Izuku's primal instincts took over and he wrapped his arms around Yaoyorozu and fell to the ground on top of her as an explosion rocked the area. Glass and concrete came soaring into the elevator, some of the smaller pieces bouncing off Izuku's body.

Hacking up the dust that had invaded his lungs, Izuku weakly called out, "I..Is everyone okay?" Looking around through the dust, he saw a couple dozen small cuts covering Kirishima's body, Jiro and Kirishima safely behind him. Iida, Bakugo, and Todoroki had all taken cover behind the walls of the elevator itself. In terms of the cadets, no one was seriously injured.

That's when Izuku directed his attention behind him, towards Benjamin, Martin, and the techs. At least four were dead for certain, enormous shards of glass piercing their chests or chunks of concrete crushing heads.

Benjamin's huge form was still crouched over Martin, his back shuddering to take a breath as the dust cleared, revealing the glass spear that had punctured his right lung.

Izuku pushed himself to his feet and rushed over as the PA system crackled to life above them.

"Ack… Pilots! This is… Commander Becket! The Shatterdome has been breached by a Kaiju of unknown origin! This is no longer a drill! I repeat, a Kaiju has breached the Shatterdome!"

Izuku's feet felt like lead as the word Kaiju filled his ears, but he harnessed all the strength left in his body and forced his way over to the current Genesis 9 pilots.

"Ben! You idiot! Why would you do that?!" Martin laid him down on his back with Izuku's help. The glass had gone all the way through his back and was peeking out the front while still occupying most of the furrow in his back.

"NEED A MEDIC!" Martin's hands were dancing around like they were on strings. He didn't know what to do since he couldn't pull out the long shard or put pressure since both would only result in more damage.

Izuku looked around once more, finally seeing what had caused all the damage. A small part of a severed Jaeger arm had crashed into the hallway just outside of the elevator, shattering the windows and nearby wall into shrapnel.

Realizing there was nothing more for him to do for Benjamin, he went to help up Yaoyorozu, who still seemed to be in shock of what had just happened. Before he could step away any further, Benjamin's hand wrapped around his ankle.

Weakly and desperately gasping for air, Benjamin stared directly into Izuku's eyes, "Get… to… 9…" And with that, his body fell limp, unconscious from lack of oxygen.

Martin gave Izuku one last glance and shouted "GO!" As he began mouth to mouth breathing for his friend.

Izuku nodded and finally took Yaoyorozu by her arms and helped lift her onto her feet. Her eyes were glazed over and unfocused, so he gave her a light slap on the cheek, "Momo! We have to go!"

"Huh…?"

Izuku grimaced, "There's a Kaiju out there! It's killing everyone!" The onyx-haired beauty blinked a few times, but barely made a noise, causing Izuku to take her by the shoulders, "I need you! Right now!" Some light returned to her eyes as Izuku screamed out, "I can't let him die again!"

Realizing what he had just said, Izuku went to take a step back, but it was Yaoyorozu's turn to reach out and take him by the hands. Her breathing was heavy, but her gaze was determined, "...Okay. I'm here."

Izuku gave her a relieved smile and hand in hand, the two went sprinting away from the elevator.

Dull thuds and semi-distant roars told the two that the Kaiju was not as close as once thought. Meaning that it had one hell of a throwing arm to get the Jaeger arm all the way from the Shatterdome entrance to LOCCENT.

"Trail Blazer and Crimson Fission are down!" A voice said over the intercom, "Gipsy Alpha is holding its ground for now. Genesis 9 and Sonic Storm Pilots, report to your Con-Pods now!"

Izuku and Yaoyorozu burst into the suiting room, the technicians looking around in confusion.

"Where's Ben and Marty?!"

"They sent us," Izuku responded simply.

The head tech took a moment to process the sentence before snapping back to reality and rushing to work, "Come on! Get off your asses you bums! We've got work to do!"

* * *

"Genesis 9, initializing neural handshake in… 3… 2… 1…"

Quicker and smoother than last time, Izuku and Yaoyorozu felt themselves snapping back into reality, their minds melded into one.

"9 this is LOCCENT," Herc relayed through the comms as the cadets began moving through the hangar, off to find and help Gipsy, "Kaiju is a Category 4, codenammed Nemesis. Its hide was thick enough to hide it from our radars, so don't expect any weapons to pierce it easily."

"Copy that, LOCCENT, moving in to help Gipsy."

Just then, Raleigh's voice broke through the radio, "LOCCENT! LOCCENT it's got us, it's coming your way, get out-"

The rest of whatever he said was drowned out by the massive Category 4 crashing through the hangar wall right next to Genesis 9, Gipsy in one of its four pairs of arms.

"BRACE!" Izuku screamed as they were ragdolled and flung to the side, slamming into the hangar doors just beneath LOCCENT.

Almost immediately, Izuku felt like his head was on fire, like bugs were crawling all over his brain and munching on it.

"Genesis! You're experiencing a singular Drift, we've gotta cut you off to prevent damage!"

Izuku looked to his left and saw Yaoyorozu hanging limply in her harness, the extreme and sudden movement had caused her brain to slam against her skull, knocking her out.

"No!" Izuku responded, "I can handle it!" He roared in defiance, lifting 9's right arm a fraction of a meter off the ground, putting so much effort into it that it looked like he was trying to bench press a literal ton.

"You have to get out of there now!" Tendo shouted, causing Izuku to finally look up and recognize that the Kaiju was not just looking at them, but stomping towards them.

"Wake up… Wake up! Yaoyorozu! WAKE UP!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I know, another cliffhanger. But for my sake, I'm doing my best to keep my chapters shorter, especially since I've got about four writing projects going on simultaneously. Next chapter will certainly be an actual fight scene don't worry. Until then, why not check out my other fic, My Darling, an SAO and Darling in the Franxx crossover prompted by a random Reddit post! Or Class 1-C: Underdog Heroes, another of my works under DragolianX-Unlimited. Anyways, I will see you next time… right after I write the next chapters for both of those Fics!


	9. Chapter 9

Genesis 9 jerked to the left, their Conn-Pod just narrowly avoiding Nemesis’s massive armored arm slamming down. It was not enough to save their right arm however.

From inside the metal monster, Yaoyorozu and Izuku cried out in agony as they felt the pain of their arm being crushed under tons of biological mass.

Fighting through the blurry vision and the insane heat of being crippled, their left hand clenched into a fist, a straight blade forming parallel to their forearm. Putting forth every ounce of effort they had, they drove the sword into the Kaiju’s elbow, severing mountains of flesh and muscle and letting rivers of Kaiju blood pour out, lessening the pressure on their arm. Nemesis roared loud enough to burst eardrums as it lost one of its eight arms. 

At the same time, another alarm began to blare, “WARNING! KAIJU BLUE DETECTED NEAR THE MAIN HANGAR ENTRANCE!” A robotic voice shouted out.

9 attempted to push themselves out of their sitting position now that their arm was free, but Nemesis used one of its taloned feet to slam down on the Jaeger’s lower torso, pinning them down for another arm smash. 

This time, Genesis was ready. The blade on its forearm disappeared and in its place, rested a massive gauntleted arm, large enough to match even the Kaiju’s form.

Catching the punch, Izuku and Yaoyorozu groaned in resistance, “Put all the power to the left arm!” Izuku shouted, “I’ll hold it!”

Yaoyorozu disengaged for a brief moment to divert all motor functions from their smashed right arm to their left. Those few seconds gave Izuku a brief glimpse into what Commander Becket had gone through as he fought Knifehead solo. It was like attempting to hold up a truck with only your head. The pressure alone made it feel like he was going to explode.

And then, Yaoyorozu connected once more, allowing the two to throw back Nemesis before it could use another of its smaller arms to assault them. The Kaiju went stumbling back, straight into Gipsy Alpha’s swords that groaned and creaked as they slipped between the gaps in its armor. They were blows straight to Nemesis’s mid torso, where you would find the kidneys or spleen on a normal human. 

Though the Chain-Swords were durable and the stabs were undoubtedly painful, Nemesis sacrificed its own health by turning to face Gipsy. In the process, the armor that was thick enough to avoid radar detection caught the blades on its armor and they snapped like twigs, leaving Gipsy without a significant melee weapon.

While the Commanders attempted to do battle with Nemesis, slamming into gangways and other Jaeger ports, Genesis 9 shakily pushed itself to its feet.

Its pilots winced and groaned in pain as their twisted and mangled arm hung limply. Yaoyorozu went to use 9’s Metalblood to form a rigid cast around it, but Izuku stopped her.

“No… we’re gonna need all of it to kill this thing.” Rapidly slamming his fingers against the console, Izuku brought up Genesis 9’s final weapon, its wings.

The stabilizer fins on the Jaeger’s back weren’t just for extra balance when sprinting. Each piece, each curve or line in the hexagonally patterned wings was its own being, metaphorically speaking of course. 

Genesis’s left gauntlet dissolved in the palm of their hand, forming a massive katana. Meanwhile, the entirety of their right arm’s armor also disappeared, the liquid-like metal tracing its way up 9’s back.

See, the Metalblood system of 9 was nothing extraordinary. It could make any shape needed and it’s molecular bonds made it more durable than diamond when it was given the proper time to form, but the one thing it could not do was make new machinery. It could replace some of the small bits and pieces of the motors or the servos in the arms or legs, but it wasn’t a god tool. Which was why Genesis needed an additional space for weapons.

All at once, the stabilizer fins began pulling themselves apart, each section becoming covered in the Metalblood armor as it began to hover. Ten, twenty, fifty. Before they knew it, Izuku and Yaoyorozu had a swarm, one-hundred drones strong of some of the most capable weapons on the planet. 

Some wielded guns or rockets, whereas others held instruments of cutting or bashing. All held the same insectoid like design. Six legs, two pairs of wings and one pair of arms holding whatever weapons they were given. It was a system that Newt called, Hydra. When collapsed and without armor, the drones formed a perfect interlocking system that could be made into a variety of shapes. It was also the current system aimed at Nemesis.

Fifty of the drones rushed the Kaiju, jamming their melee weapons deep into sensitive areas. Eyes, joints, ears, and even the nose, were targets of their assault. Their other fifty brothers bombarded it with a hail of kinetic weapons and explosions.

Roaring, Nemesis flailed around, freeing Gipsy from its grasp, as it futilely attempted to swat down the Hydra swarm. With it distracted, Gipsy charged up to the beast, its right fist hauled back and a low roaring coming from the back of its elbow rocket.

Nemesis turned its head just in time to catch a mouthful of metal. It was followed up by an uppercut and Gipsy kicking out at the Kaiju’s thick legs.

A snap that could be heard for miles around echoed through the hangar as the kick made contact with the right shin of their enemy, snapping it in two.

Simultaneously, the Hydra swarm finally stabbed out the last of Nemesis’s six eyes, making the creature entirely blind. 

Gipsy went to take another swing, but the sudden panic from becoming blind incensed the Kaiju and its tail began whipping around without abandon, catching Gipsy in the side and distracting it long enough for it to make its escape. Or rather, what it thought to be its escape. Instead of running away from Gipsy, it was running towards 9.

“We’ve got one shot at this!” Izuku shouted, holding the katana down to his right side, in the style of a Nukitsuke strike. They needed to slash at just the right time, otherwise, they would get steamrolled by the 2500 ton monster.

As their left foot slid backwards, bracing them, the two tightened their grip on the sword, Yaoyorozu finding that her breathing was becoming heavy with anxiety as time seemed to slow, Nemesis practically on top of them.

“NOW!”

All of 9’s weight threw itself forwards, pushing into the upwards diagonal slash. The katana dug itself into the area just under the ribcage and began making its trek up through the torso, bisecting the Kaiju with one even slash.

Both Genesis 9 and Nemesis stumbled past each other, each one tired and injured, but only one of them was dealt a fatal blow. 

Nemesis coughed up a huge globule of Kaiju Blue as gravity finally took over and the enemy fell to ground, exploding in a mess of organs and blue blood.

Using the blade as a cane, Izuku and Yaoyorozu leaned heavily on the weapon, breathing hard and barely maintaining consciousness through the intense pulsating pain in their right arm.

Attempting to make for their bay, they took a step forwards, nearly falling on their face as Gipsy appeared next to them, getting under one of their arms and helping them limp along.

“Come on you two!” Raleigh shouted, “We’ve gotta get you to the water!”

“Huh?” The two murmured in unison, “Why?”

“The Kaiju Blue has almost eaten through your Pod! Double time!”

This helped the two teens pick up the pace as Yaoyorozu groaned out, “Is it over?”

“Nearly. Just hold on a little longer!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a bit longer than usual to get out! I’ve been pretty busy with my own original work that I’ve been trying my best on as well as my two other Fics! Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the first Kaiju attack of the series, more to come in the future :) See you next time!


	10. Chapter 10

Tendo would’ve laughed if the situation wasn’t so dire. Gipsy Alpha had practically thrown Genesis 9 into the ice cold ocean water in order to scrub the Kaiju Blue from the surrounding area. 

With the hangar and a good portion of the Shatterdome breached and covered in Kaiju Blue, they couldn’t risk sending anyone out to scrub down the Jaegers. As it was, LOCCENT was currently on lockdown to prevent any of the noxious gases from reaching them, meaning Tendo had no choice but to sit there and wait for something to happen. 

_ “Screw that,”  _ Tendo thought to himself. Then, to the rest of the command center, he shouted, “I want three teams! One team is finding me that goddamn Breach right now and I mean NOW!” Part of the room jumped to action, slightly disturbed by Tendo’s sudden outburst, “Team two I want you assessing the damages and any Kaiju Blue dangers! Team three, half of you manually man radar and sonic trackers! The other half, your job is to locate any other possible Kaiju that made it through whatever Breach Nemesis crawled out of! Get to work!”

Herc leaned over to Tendo as he sat down, rapidly flicking through his console, “You might not wanna scare ‘em like that.”

“They should be scared, Herc. We’ve got another apocalypse on our hands and Pentecost isn’t here to bail us out.”

“That’s kinda my point,” Herc shrugged, “We should be giving 'em hope, not making them fearful of a second Kaiju storm without Stacker. We’ve got Mako, we’ve got Becket, and we’ve got plenty of new cadets.”

Tendo breathed out a heavy sigh and dragged his hands down his face, “I know… I know. I just… I can’t let my kid grow up in a world like this.”

Herc rested one hand on the man’s shoulder, “If there was one thing I learned from Chuck, it’s that you can’t control what happens around them, you can only be there for them when things go south.”

* * *

Izuku felt nothing. He should’ve still been in the Drift, but the only thing keeping him company in this dark void was an unconscious Yaoyorozu.

And then, everything snapped into existence. 

Standing in his Drivesuit, Izuku found himself inside some sort of hallway. It felt homely, and warm. A far cry from the Shatterdome’s cold interior.

“Um… hello?” Izuku called out, fully aware that this was a Drift memory. He didn’t recognize it, so he figured it had to be Yaoyorozu’s. Taking a step forwards, he was surprised to hear the crunch of glass underfoot and looking to his left, he found a window shattered inwards, a green luscious forest just beyond it.

“Come out come out wherever you are little girl!” Izuku looked back down the hallway, only to see a large burly man with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. Izuku paled, knowing full well that this was not the type of memory you wanted to Drift to.

* * *

Back in the real world, Raleigh and Mako were helping Genesis 9 out of the water, “They must’ve regained consciousness,” Raleigh realized as he went to click on the comms. He never got the chance.

9’s fist clenched and a blade emerged from its non damaged forearm, stabbing right into Gipsy’s side. Refusing to let up, a massive wrecking ball formed on the fist of its limp right arm and 9’s body pivoted, swinging the appendage like a whip, crashing into Gipsy’s head and cracking their visor.

“What the hell?!” Raleigh brought up his arms, blocking the second swing of the wrecking ball before delivering his own strike to their abdomen. “Tendo?! What’s going on?!”

“Yaoyorozu’s out of alignment! She seized control of the neural handshake!” Tendo cried out as Gipsy blocked blow after blow, “Izuku’s trying to regain control, but she’s got a deathgrip on the thing, I can’t shut them down!”

* * *

Izuku’s body shook with the blows of Gipsy, spurring on his search for Yaoyorozu even more. He needed to find her and snap her out of her memory before they killed Gipsy… or Gipsy killed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know that this is an incredibly short chapter, but I wanted to give you something to go along with this update. As some of you may know, my most recent fic, Shadow Monarch Hero: Deku, a Solo Leveling/My Hero Academia crossover, has really been taking off, so a majority of my time and focus has been spent on that and I plan on having it like that for some time. Which brings me to say this, because I’m having so much fun with it and so many other people are as well, this fic as well as any others I’m currently working on, are going on hiatus. I will return to this one and maybe sprinkle a few updates here and there, but I just wanted to say this so no one is anticipating the next chapter any time soon. I apologize for the sudden announcement and hiatus from this fic, but I’m gonna write what I wanna write, so if you want something of mine that will be earning consistent updates in the coming weeks and months, my Shadow Monarch fic is where it's going to be at. I hope to see you all the next time I update this fic!


	11. Memories

"Sorry 9!" Raleigh shouted, lowering his stance into that of a brawler, "But this isn't going to be fun!"

Genesis 9, still under the control of a RABIT chasing Yaoyorozu, was unfazed by the threat and charged forwards. With one arm still hanging limp, they should've been an easy takedown, but Yaoyorozu's body, running only on instinct, wasn't one to go down so easily.

Gipsy Alpha threw their punches. The left hook went straight into the side of their Conn-Pod, rocketing their head back as Gispy's right jab was caught by 9's left hand. Suddenly, the nanomachines flooded off the Jaeger, covering Gipsy's hand and locking them together just as the white Jaeger's head came rushing back, headbutting their opponent. Because neither Izuku, nor Yaoyorozu were technically piloting Genesis 9, any blows to their Conn-Pod would do nothing to stumble them. The same couldn't be said for Raleigh or Mako.

Their harnesses caught them, but the intense shaking of the Conn-Pod threw them off, just long enough for Genesis to ram their body up against Gipsy's and tackle them into the water.

"Warning, multiple hull breaches. Jaeger hydraulic system now operating at seventy-percent."

Raleigh and Mako got their bearings once more and looked up from their position on the ocean floor. Their free hand pressed against 9's chest, pushing as hard as they could to get the Jaeger off them. Unfortunately, this only caused the hull breaches in Gipsy to open further. Genesis's nanobots had formed massive spikes on the Jaeger's torso before they tackled Gipsy, piercing the mech in dozens of places. Once inside, the spikes expanded outwards, forming hooks to anchor themselves.

"Warning, water has breached the torso of Gipsy Alpha. Immediate ejection recommended."

"Dammit!" Raleigh roared, "Genesis 9! Snap outta it!" If they ejected now and Genesis 9 continued on under the control of Yaoyorozu, it could walk right into a nearby populated city and wreak havoc. Nemesis had taken out all their other Jaegers and pilots, so it was up to Gipsy to stop them here, or up to Izuku to wake his partner.

* * *

Izuku continued to run through the labyrinth of hallways and rooms, his breathing becoming more labored by the second. He might have been running in a memory only, but his body was still moving in real life, working to move Genesis 9 as they attacked their commanders. " _We are so sacked!"_ Izuku thought to himself as he ended up in the third foyer of the house. " _Is the Drift distorting the memories? No way her house was this big!"_

"HEEEELP!" A sudden shriek shook him out of his thoughts. It sounded like it came from the second floor and it sent Izuku charging up the stairs, his Drivesuit boots slamming down on the marble.

"YAOYOROZU!"

"HELP!"

Izuku bolted left, noticing that she still wasn't responding to him, just the memory. " _How did I not see this memory when we were Drifting?!"_ Then, his gaze caught sight of a pool out the window and he realized he _had_ seen this memory before. In the Drift, you were normally exposed to every single memory of your partners, but that didn't mean you could process it all. A lifetime of existence flashing by in milliseconds doesn't give a lot of time to contemplate everything you see.

Finally, Izuku reached a caved-in door. Charging through, he couldn't help but marvel at the spaciousness of the room, whilst simultaneously looking on in horror as the big burly man in black, almost militaristic or tactical, clothing stalked over to a child version of Yaoyorozu, no older than eight. Blood was spilling from her chest where a long cut opened her skin. It nearly sent Izuku into a panic before he realized that this was just a memory, she survived this encounter. However, that didn't stop him from taking action.

Izuku was at least a head shorter than this man, but wearing the bulky and metal Drivesuit, he would hit harder. Lowering his shoulder, Izuku charged forwards, intending to drive as much mass as possible into the man's spine. Unfortunately, while Izuku could interact with the environment, it seemed like it didn't want him to interfere with the events taking place.

Almost like the man was a ghost, Izuku flew straight through his chest, landing just at Yaoyorozu's feet. Knowing that dealing with the memory by force was no longer an option, Izuku got in young Yaoyorozu's face. "Yaoyorozu! Wake up! This isn't real!"

But to Yaoyorozu, it was real, after all, she had already experienced it once before. She looked right through her Drift partner, eyes widening in horror and filling with tears as the man stalked closer, holding a long combat knife.

"Come on kiddie… I won't kill you, after all, you'd be a great hostage," He smiled sadistically, "I may hurt ya, but I won't kill ya."

Izuku's mind filled with rage, but there was nothing he could do to this man. He was a figment of a ten-year passed memory. "You're not in danger here! But you are in danger out there! And so is Gipsy! If you don't snap out of it, we're going to kill them!"

The man's knife flashed forwards, passing through Izuku and opening another wound on Yaoyorozu's arm. The thought, " _So that's why she always wears long sleeves,"_ Dashed through Izuku's mind as he desperately looked around, trying to figure out anyway to interrupt the memory, but it was useless.

"Excuse me, sir." A similarly burly man was suddenly behind the intruder, driving his fist into the man's jaw and dead-legging him.

The intruder collapsed to one knee, and in response, pulled out a handgun, aiming at Yaoyorozu. Her protector did not like this. He lurched forwards, wrenching the man's hand upwards and twisting it to dislodge the firearm. But while both of the savior's hands were occupied with the man's one arm, the man still held a knife in his other arm and jabbed out, slicing open the guard's side. The guard reached for his own firearm instinctually, finding the empty holster and remembering that he accidentally left it behind in his rush. So instead, he pulled out his own knife, facing off with the criminal.

"I've called the police. Give up now and I won't have to kill you." The man in black only responded by adjusting the grip on his knife and lunging forwards.

With the animosity of the room focused away from Yaoyorozu, Izuku tried one last time to get through to her. He waved his hands through her body and shouted her name, but it was still futile. Then, he remembered the last thing she'd asked before she went out of alignment. "Is it over?"

"Yes, it's over. We won."

Her eyes widened and she seemed to look at him for the first time. But almost immediately, her gaze chased elsewhere, landing on the two men, both collapsed on the floor. The man in black was still on his knees, but he was bleeding like crazy. Dozens of cuts were placed expertly all over his body, plenty of them severing arteries. It was a miracle the man was still breathing, but soon, he collapsed to the floor too, skin pale, and eyes dead. Only then did young Yaoyorozu have the courage to crawl over to the guard. He only had one wound, a single slash mark… on the back of his neck. His eyes were still moving and a smile gently graced his lips as he realized the intruder was dead and that Yaoyorozu was not.

"It's okay… Yaoyorozu," He whispered, barely able to talk, "It's over now." Police sirens filled the air and began mixing together, reminding Izuku of the same warning signals that Genesis 9 was being bombarded with. Apparently, it reminded Yaoyorozu as well. The combination of the sound and the end of the memory finally did it and the two pilots found themselves back in the Conn-Pod of Genesis.

They were on their knees, both their arms ripped off and dozens of metal craters in their chassis. Gipsy stood above them, it's hull similarly messed up, but its body mostly intact. "We're rusty… but not that rusty."

Yaoyorozu disengaged from her Drift platform, knees weakly giving out as she fell forwards, caught at the last second by Izuku, her faceplate inches from the floor. He spun her around and rested her on his lap, removing her helmet and allowing her silky black hair to spill out behind her. Izuku yanked off one of his gloves and pressed his fingers against her neck, he wasn't sure of the adverse effects of a Drift like the one he had just experienced, he had to be sure.

"Genesis 9, this is Gipsy Alpha, are you both okay?"

Izuku reached up to the center console, "Midoriya here, I'm fine, Yaoyorozu is unconscious!"

"Copy that. Tendo's directing a lift team out to you, they'll get you out of there."

"Thank you, sir! And… sorry…"

"For now, just worry about getting back to base safely, then we'll talk." Gipsy remained standing there until the helicopters landed on 9's roof, opening the hatch on the head and using a harness to lift out the unconscious pilot. Izuku climbed up after her and boarded the helicopter. Watching through the window as Gipsy followed behind them, leaving the lift teams to pick up what was left of Genesis 9.

"Just like the old days," Raleigh joked, a bittersweet smile on his face as he radioed back to LOCCENT.

"The old days sucked," Tendo responded.

* * *

Yaoyorozu awoke slowly, her eyes fluttering as her mind worked its way back to reality. Then, once she realized she was in a hospital gown, she shot up, grasping at her stomach and arm. Her breathing sped up and she began panicking, but then…

"Woah… it's okay. You're safe." Izuku's hands cupped her cheeks, turning her face towards him. "We're back in the Shatterdome."

"My… My arm… w-why isn't it bandaged… and my…" She trailed off, her fingers finally meeting the rough texture of skin where her scar was.

"It was the Drift. We got shook out of alignment."

" _I shook out of alignment,"_ Yaoyorozu thought to herself, then, remembering what they had done to Gipsy, she said it out loud. " _I_ shook out of alignment."

Izuku gave a shake of his head, "We don't know that. We were both exhausted and in pain, either of us, or both of us could've been responsible."

"No," Yaoyorozu said, her voice firm, " _I_ did it. If they ask us what happened, it was my fault."

Izuku's eyes narrowed in concern, "I doubt I'm gonna find a better pilot to jockey with. They either sack both of us, or neither of us."

"You don't know that, you could try pairing with-"

"Yaoyorozu, I don't think I can," He smiled somewhat awkwardly, "I've… been in your head and felt what Drifting with you is like… I don't think I wanna find someone else."

Yaoyorozu turned bright red at such a heartfelt declaration. One that almost sounded like a confession.

"I wouldn't worry about finding another pilot," Raleigh said, having silently entered the medical bay behind Mako.

Izuku immediately hopped up and snapped to attention. Yaoyorozu attempted to stand and do the same, but Mako pointed to her, "You. Stay."

"For your actions taken against the Pan Pacific Defense Corp while inside Genesis 9 and for the damage you caused, you will be suspended from all Jaeger activity until further notice. You will not be let near a Jaeger again until we are certain that you can Drift without another incident like that… Now, at ease." Raleigh smiled, "Good job."

"S-Sir?" Yaoyorozu looked up with confusion.

"You killed your first Kaiju, and even did so with a worthless arm, that's cause for celebration." He clapped Izuku on the shoulder, "You even managed to give us a good fight. The circumstances were…"

"Pretty awful," Mako said bluntly, "But you've shown your compatibility with each other and Genesis 9. Because of this, we're going to train you harder than the rest, we're going to push you until the slip-up that happened today never happens again."

"You'll no longer be under the instruction of Herc or Akari. You'll be training with us directly."

"R-Really?! When do we start?!" Izuku asked, his smile beaming.

"When you and your partner are a bit rested up, we'll get right to it."

* * *

A few hours later and Yaoyorozu was well enough to walk back to their quarters. Her and Izuku were both limping. They'd gotten pretty beaten up without even realizing it. When they got to the bulkhead-like door, they both heard shouting from inside. Without a doubt it was Bakugo. That wouldn't surprise them at all.

What did surprise them however, were the six new cadets filling the bunk room. They were all ignoring Bakugo's shouts as he called them extras and worthless competition. All the while, Iida attempted to calm the teen.

A girl with ginger hair was the first to notice Izuku and Yaoyorozu enter the room. She gave a kindly smile to them both. "Looks like the Heroes are finally here," She joked as she strolled over and stuck her hand out, "My name's Itsuka Kendo… and we're your new competition."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I know it's been like several months, but I finally just needed a break from Shadow Monarch Hero: Deku and wanted to come back to a shorter and smaller story. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!


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